Translate:

Search this site:

Cong Cao Weighs in on China's Efforts to Lure Back Talent

Key sources in a naturejobs.com feature article, Cong Cao and Denis Simon, members of CNS's Globalization research group, offered their expertise on the science research climate in China. The story is about China's efforts to lure back researchers who left the country to earn degrees and work abroad. China's primary mechanism is the Thousand Talents Plan, launched in 2008, that offers incentives to scholars under 40 who have completed at least three years of postdoctoral work at a non-Chinese university. Returning to China can present challenges, however, including jealousy from new colleagues and pressure to produce results immediately.

"Don't move too early in your career," says Cao in the article. "Make sure you have done at least a few years of productive postdoctoral research and produced some nice papers, else you'll have the air of one who is not competitive in the West."

In its effort to catch up to Europe, the U.S. and Japan, China is not only attempting to reduce brain drain, but is hiring foreign-born researchers. "Bringing senior scientists to China is a different story," said Simon, a vice-provost at Arizona State University. "It's hard to swallow for China's old guard that Mr. Smith gets so much when their Mr. Wang gets so much less."